It’s one of the most romantic movies of the last twenty years, a movie that draws in men and women alike — your boyfriend might protest, but he always ends up watching with you, doesn’t he? — because who wouldn’t want to be a young Rachel McAdams in love with a young Ryan Gosling (and vice versa)?

As far as we can tell, this trend really started in earnest in 2010, thanks to a Canadian couple, Cindy Gauthier and Jean-Nicola Barile. Their retro Notebook engagement photos were SO perfect and adorable that they went viral, inspiring tons of engaged imitators to stage the exact same kinds of pictures.

According to the original post, here’s why the couple decided to go full McAdams and Gosling for their photos:

We chose the movie “The Notebook” as inspiration for our engagement photo shoot for a few reasons. For one, Jean-Nicola’s late grandparents had Alzheimer’s disease and this movie touched close to home. Also, the chemistry of the young lovers in the movie was intense! And the era is very alluring to us — the fashion and way of life. We hope that our love endures all that life will throw at us, much like Noah and Allie. Oh, and we always fall asleep hand in hand (reference to the end of the movie)…

Little did they know that they were going to start a worldwide trend. Seriously, Google “Notebook engagement photos” and you will see SO many couples kissing in the rain. There are a ton of people buying retro swimsuits and tight white t-shirts for their wedding pictures right now.

As a tribute to the couple that started it all — and just to make you sigh from adorableness — here are some of our favorite shots from the original Notebook-inspired engagement photos.